


The New Adventures Of The Justice League

by Gage39



Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Shazam (Comics)
Genre: Clones, Gen, Human Experimentation, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-26 01:28:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14391327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gage39/pseuds/Gage39
Summary: Labs all over the world are being broken into and the thieves are offering only one word: Cadmus. The appearance of a new ally, Captain Marvel, only serves to further complicate things.An old story that I decided to post here.





	1. Meeting Captain Marvel

**Author's Note:**

> This is not one of my better stories but I figure that there's at least one person out there that will like this so enjoy.

Chapter 1: Meeting Captain Marvel  
The New Adventures Of The Justice League

Chapter One: Meeting Captain Marvel

If normal days included fighting evil monsters from an alternate dimension then today was just another day in a long line of normal days for the Justice League. The fact that they were currently getting their butts kicked wasn't. If it had just been Flash, Batman, Hawkgirl and maybe Wonder Woman then it would have been one thing but since Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Superman were there as well it was more…humiliating than anything else.

"My mace isn't having any effect," Hawkgirl called as she artfully dodged a ball of fire.

"Heat vision isn't doing much of anything either," Superman informed them.

"I'm trying to erect a force field around him so we can try and contain some of the damage," Green Lantern yelled to the rest of his teammates.

"Good idea," Batman called back. "And while you're doing that Flash and Wonder Woman will keep evacuating the civilians that are still trapped."

"And what about you?" Wonder Woman asked as she lifted up another overturned car.

"Superman, Hawkgirl and I will keep the beast distracted," Batman decided.

"I don't envy your job, Bats," Flash laughed as he zoomed past, carrying two small children.

"Wait, where's J'onn?" Hawkgirl wanted to know.

In response Superman merely pointed to a spot in the sky where, if a person squinted and tilted their head just right, they could just barely make out a ripple in the clouds. "He's using his camouflage mode to stay hidden from the creature while he attempts to read its mind."

"Uh, no offense to J'onn or anything but I don't think that thing has a brain," Flash ran by again, this time clutching a cat and her three kittens.

"Oh and you do?" Superman retorted.

"Do you mind?" Green Lantern yelled irritably, his normally brown eyes glowing green in contrast with his black skin. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to focus with you guys constantly yelling?! I've told you before; if I lose my concentration for even a second…"

"While he had been ranting Green Lantern had failed to notice that the creature had been throwing itself against the force field in a desperate attempt to free itself and, finally, broke through. Green Lantern fell out of the sky only to be caught by Hawkgirl even as the creature let out a loud roar, spraying spittle on Batman, J'onn (who had given up on reading its mind) and Superman who were gathered in front of it.

"That was…disgusting," J'onn said diplomatically as he wiped his face off with his blue cape.

"Agreed," Batman sighed. "Anyone else have any bright ideas?"

Before Superman could offer up any sarcastic remarks a streak of red, white and gold flew past them and directly into the creature's face. The monster roared in surprise and anger as it stumbled backwards, its massive size causing the ground to shake. But the blur continued throwing itself against the monster until it had successfully been backed into a corner where, after one last hit, it fell to the ground with a heavy thud and didn't get back up.

Every member of the Justice League (except for Batman who merely raised an eyebrow) felt their jaws drop as they stared in shock at the blur which (now that it had slowed down) revealed itself to be a man as he slowly floated down to a few inches above where they were gathered. He wore a red one-piece costume with a square looking gold lightning bolt emblazoned on his chest and a gold button on the right side of his chest. A gold sash was tied around his waist and he wore gold versions of Wonder Woman's wrist shields along with gold boots. His waist-length cape was white with gold flowers on one side and it was positioned over his left shoulder by a golden rope. Small sparks of electricity danced around him as he floated. He had jet black hair and his blue eyes sparkled as he smiled warmly at them.

"Hi!" he said cheerfully. "I hope you guys don't mind but I felt the fighting so I thought I'd give you a hand."

"We don't mind in the least," Flash said slowly, his mind still trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Uh no offense," Hawkgirl said as she finally let go of Green Lantern. "But don't you mean that you heard the fight instead of feeling it?"

The stranger looked confused for a minute then laughed. "Sorry," he chuckled. "I can…detect magic and this fellow right here," he nodded towards the creature, "is radiating it like a neon sign! Not that his magic is particularly powerful," he added as an afterthought.

"Well at least that explains why my heat vision didn't have much of an effect," Superman sighed.

"But why didn't my mace work on him?" Hawkgirl frowned in confusion.

Wonder Woman ignored her fellow female and, turning to the stranger, asked, "And what's your name?"

Instantly the man's disappeared and in its place was a thunderous scowl unlike any they had ever seen before (it was even worse than Batman's!). Wonder Woman nervously glanced to either side and was happy to see that the others looked as uneasy as she felt. Despite her Amazonian training she couldn't help but sigh in relief when the scowl turned into a thoughtful look before breaking out into a smile.

"You can call me…Captain Marvel," he declared, finally coming to rest on the ground.

"Well you certainly are one," Green Lantern agreed, clapping their newest ally on the back.

"Thanks," Captain Marvel grinned widely.

It was such a contrast from his previous expression that the Justice League wondered if they had just imagined it. Already the mere thought of an expression so…angry and full of hatred felt out of place on the handsome, good-natured and boyishly eager face. He was practically bouncing up and down as he excitedly conversed with Flash and Green Lantern. Wonder Woman, Superman and J'onn watched the three men talking with something akin to amusement while Hawkgirl continued to fiddle with her mace. Batman frowned and idly fingered a birdarangs even as he wondered just who Captain Marvel really was and how big of a threat he would prove to be.

"So, Captain, where dost thou abide?" Flash asked.

"Huh?" poor Captain Marvel looked so confused that J'onn took pity on him and decided to explain.

"I believe what Flash is trying to ask is where do you live?" the Martian said.

"Oh," Captain Marvel's face cleared and he nodded in understanding. He hesitated a minute then said, "Fawcett City."

"Where's that?" Green Lantern asked.

"I know where that is," Superman said hastily, in a desperate attempt to save his companion's life even as the electricity surrounding Captain Marvel began to spark.

There's no telling how the rest of the conversation could have gone if Hawkgirl's mace hadn't chosen that moment to start working. Excitedly, she swung it in a circle, accidentally striking Captain Marvel square in the chest. With a startled, pain-filled cry he flew backwards, crashing into a wall and knocking it down.

"Sorry!" Hawkgirl called after him.

Batman turned and directed the full force of his "Bat glare" on the hapless Thanagarian. "Hawkgirl," he said severely. "I don't know how things work on Thanagar but on Earth we don't attack potential allies!"

"Agreed," J'onn spoke up. "Perhaps you should offer Captain Marvel an apology."

"Yeah, apologize," Flash chimed in as he raced around them.

Before Hawkgirl had a chance to say anything bricks and rubble came flying at them as a bloodied Captain Marvel emerged from beneath the wall. A look of absolute fury was on his face as he bared his teeth and growled at them. There was a brief moment of silence as they faced each other, Wonder Woman and Superman tensed, both ready to attack should the need arise. After a few more seconds Captain Marvel abruptly leapt into the air and disappeared in a streak of red, white and gold.

"Terrific," Wonder Woman sighed. "Not only did we get our butts kicked by some monster but we just lost a potential new ally."

"Speaking of which, what are we going to do with him?" Green Lantern asked, inclining his head towards the still unconscious monster.

"Not my job!" Flash said quickly before speeding off towards Central City.

"How…juvenile," J'onn commented. "Now if you'll excuse me I must return to my duties at the Watchtower." He levitated into the air before turning invisible.

"I would suggest S.T.A.R. Labs," Batman said. "I need to go; Gotham needs me." He stepped back into the shadows before vanishing.

"How does he do that?" Superman asked no one in particular then grabbed Green Lantern by the arm. "And where do you think you're going?" the Kryptonian raised an eyebrow.

"Um," Green Lantern stammered as he tried to think of something but was finally forced to admit defeat. "S.T.A.R. Labs," he sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"Need any help?" Wonder Woman offered.

"I think we can manage," Superman told her.

"Do you need any help?" Hawkgirl asked Green Lantern as she trailed her fingers down his chest.

Wonder Woman sniggered as the black man blushed and stammered helplessly.

"On second thought maybe I could use your help," Superman admitted.

Wonder Woman smiled in satisfaction. How like a man to change their mind! If men had any common sense they would have handed their world over to women long ago! But that is why she was there after all; to spread peace and harmony on Earth.

"This is never going to work," Lex Luthor stated flatly.

Not even bothering to look up Vandal Savage said, "Are you doubting me, Lex? And after all we've been through…"

He was interrupted by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, a short, bald, easily excited man. "Of course it's going to work!" he howled. "With my, I mean our genius," he corrected after receiving two identical glares, "spear-heading this project what can go wrong?"

"Well for starters the Justice League actually attacking Captain Marvel?" Luthor raised an eyebrow.

Even as Sivana sputtered in fury Savage said, "On that I must agree with Luthor. Our entire plan hinged on them befriending him; not trying to annihilate him!"

"But in a way it works to our advantage!" Sivana protested.

"How?" Luthor and Savage asked simultaneously.

"Um," Sivana racked his brain as he desperately tried to think of something then brightened. "This way, the next time they meet they'll be more concerned with apologizing than figuring out where he came from."

"That's all good and well," Luthor said impatiently. "But what was that little temper tantrum all about?"

"Calm down," Savage sighed heavily. "There were bound to be some…instabilities. Although I will admit that I didn't expect them to be quite so…obvious." He sent another glare at Sivana.

"Not my fault," the scientist snapped. "Just be grateful he didn't go nuclear and destroy them completely!"

"He better not," Luthor growled. "We've come too far to have all our hard work undone by our own hand."

"Agreed," Savage said. "And now if we're done for today I do have some other business to attend to."

"As do I," Luthor rose from his chair and made his way to the door. He took one last look at the television screen which showed Captain Marvel curled up in an alleyway, shivering, before closing the door behind him.

Once he was gone Sivana turned to Savage. "You do know he's going to betray us."

Savage nodded. "I know," he said simply.

"And what do we do?" Sivana demanded.

Savage smiled. "We do…nothing. Captain Marvel will take care of Luthor for us when the time is right, won't you boy?" he addressed the screen where Captain Marvel was now crying himself to sleep. "You'll help us whether you want to or not." Almost as if he had heard him, Captain Marvel began to shake even harder…


	2. Break-Ins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plot is finally introduced and Batman finds himself frustrated at every turn. He can't find answers about Captain Marvel or Cadmus and can't even go to bed without being interrupted.

Chapter 2: Break Ins  
The New Adventures Of The Justice League

Chapter Two: Break-Ins

Once he was back in Gotham Batman found plenty of other things to occupy his mind instead of the mysterious Captain Marvel. Granted, he did wonder who the Captain was but still; one of the labs at Wayne Enterprises being broken into did tend to take precedence. It had been an easy matter to take down the three thieves, none of whom had any fight savvy whatsoever, the third had simply surrendered the second he saw Batman! But before he called the police on them Batman wanted answers; so, as the three sat nervously a table in the aforementioned lab, trembling while Batman glared at them he best considered how to go about this. After deciding to attack their weakest link first he hovered in the shadows and, with a deep, sinister voice asked, "Why did you break in here?"

The thief trembled but didn't say a word. He was a teenager, no more than sixteen or seventeen and was red-headed with a face full of freckles and green eyes. The other two thieves were adults, both in their early twenties and with brown hair and eyes Batman decided that they were probably related.

"Tell me who sent you here," he ordered. "None of you are smart enough to get in here on your own so someone put you up to it. Tell me who it was and I'll see that the courts go easy on you."

"Maybe we should tell him," one of the brown haired men said, glancing uneasily at his brother.

"No way," the other man hissed. "You heard what they said; if we talk they'll kill our families."

"I don't care," the teenager chimed in. "I've got five brothers and sisters to support. I'm not going to do them much good in jail."

"You're not going to do them much good if they're dead either," the first man that had spoken pointed out.

Batman had heard enough. Stepping out of the shadows he cleared his throat and said, "I can protect your families for you if that's what you're worried about. I can arrange twenty-four hour protection for both them and you."

"No offense, Mr. Batman sir," the teenager said. "But not even you can protect us from…" he swallowed and looked around uneasily before whispering, "Cadmus."

Batman frowned. "What's Cadmus?" he asked.

But the teenager was shaking his head. "I've already said too much." And with that he leaned back and didn't say another word.

Batman was still frowning even as the police carted the three men away, after promising Bruce Wayne that they would arrange protection for the crooks. Who or what was Cadmus and why had it spooked those men so? Oh well. This was definitely a job for Batman…and his stupendous computers that could find anything or anybody.

Two hours later Batman was, and this was a first for him, forced to admit defeat. He could find no files anywhere in the world that referenced Cadmus. None. Growing infuriated at the lack of results he finally decided to put it to the side and concentrate on something else. That always seemed to do the trick before. After taking a deep breath he began searching for Captain Marvel. He might as well figure out who their mysterious helper was. But, once again, he found nothing. Apparently the previous day was the first time Captain Marvel had ever been spotted. There was absolutely no record of him in Fawcett City or any other city for that matter. Batman quickly decided he didn't like the way his week was going so far. He was just about to call it a night when one of his computers pinged, telling him that he had a caller.

"Computer, id caller," he ordered.

"Caller, Superman. Priority, urgent."

"Open a channel," he decided. He debated about putting his cowl back on but decided against it. Superman already knew his secret identity; there was no reason to hide from him. "What is it, Clark?" he asked when Superman's face filled the screen.

"Bruce, have you ever heard of Cadmus?" Superman asked.

Instantly Bruce's plans of going to bed that night vanished down the drain. "Why?" he asked.

"Because someone broke into a lab here in Metropolis. I managed to catch him but all he would say was Cadmus and beyond that nothing."

Bruce frowned. "The same thing happened here too. I assume your thieves were also amateurs."

Before Superman could respond the computer pinged and said, "Caller, Hawkgirl. Priority, urgent."

Bruce groaned and opened the channel.

"Cadmus," Hawkgirl said by way of greeting.

Ping. "Caller, Wonder Woman. Priority, urgent. Caller, Flash. Priority, urgent. Caller…"

Bruce interrupted the computer by saying, "Superman, call a meeting at the Watchtower. Apparently Cadmus isn't limited to just Gotham and Metropolis."

"Understood." Almost immediately alarms began sounding, alerting Batman about the meeting. "Superman out."

"Hawkgirl out."

"Well, well," Lex Luthor leaned back in his comfortable office chair, tapping his fingers together. "It would appear that 'Cadmus' has been very busy tonight. At least that idiot Sivana did something right. Although I should probably increase security here as well. No doubt Savage and Sivana are aware that I intend to betray them which is exactly what I want them to think. They'll be so busy trying to keep an eye on me that they won't even pay any attention to…other aspects of our projects." His smile grew as he spotted Captain Marvel on TV, fighting a giant alien robot. "And at least my investment is paying off nicely. It does everything they said and then some…"


	3. Meeting, Interrupted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Juatice League has a meeting but is interrupted by Captain Marvel. Meanwhile the villains plot to capture everyone.

Chapter 3: Meeting, Interrupted  
The New Adventures Of The Justice League

Chapter Three: Meeting, Interrupted

"So why are we all here?" Flash asked as he zoomed into the meeting room of the Watchtower. "I mean I know Superman called an emergency meeting but why?"

Seeing the annoyed look on Batman's face Wonder Woman spoke up and said, "If my guess is right it has something to do with Cadmus."

"What is Cadmus?" Green Lantern asked. "The Guardians of Oa don't know what it is and, quite frankly, that's ticking them off."

"I have no idea," Batman spoke, earning himself several surprised looks. "I couldn't find any records of them anywhere. If they do exist they're certainly not in any known database."

"Why don't we just have J'onn read the thieves' minds?" Hawkgirl suggested, her eyes shining at the possibility of fighting.

"That is a good idea," Superman spoke up. "But Cadmus threatened their families. If J'onn reads their minds to discover anything Cadmus will think they talked."

"Precisely," J'onn said. "I for one do not wish to have that on my conscience. Perhaps another hero of Earth would know," he suggested.

"Exactly," Wonder Woman said approvingly. "I vote we ask Black Canary."

"Why? Is it because she's a girl?" Flash asked teasingly.

Before Wonder Woman could reply Superman suddenly stiffened and tilted his head to the side. "Someone's coming," he said.

"Who?" Hawkgirl demanded as she grabbed her mace.

"I don't know," Superman replied just as something struck the Watchtower, causing it to shake. "But I'm going to find out."

Within minutes (Batman and a few others had donned breathing gear) the Justice League was gathered outside of the satellite, prepared to do battle. But, to their surprise, all they found was a wide-eyed Captain Marvel hovering there, an expression of awe on his face. After turning his head and seeing the seven heroes watching him he said, "You guys have a satellite? That's so cool!"

"How did you find this place?" Batman demanded.

"Oh it was an accident," Captain Marvel explained. "You see I was fighting this giant robot when…"

He was interrupted by the giant robot that decided to make its presence known by firing lasers at the Justice League. Quickly Captain Marvel and Superman leapt in front of the others, the lasers bouncing harmlessly off their chests while Green Lantern quickly put a shield around them.

"We need to get it away from the satellite," Superman yelled. "Any bright ideas, Captain?"

"Just because I have the Wisdom of Solomon does not qualify me to make decisions about giant robots!" the Captain retorted.

"Why don't I just hit it?" Hawkgirl suggested, flying towards the robot, her mace crackling with electricity.

"Wait!" Wonder Woman called after her but Hawkgirl didn't seem to hear. Seconds later (after being swatted by the robot like a bug) she came flying back towards them, crashing into Green Lantern's shield, causing it to dissipate.

"Why don't we try a coordinated attack?" Flash suggested, earning himself several strange looks and one admiring one.

"Flash does have a good idea," J'onn admitted, looking slightly pained.

"Okay then, genius, tell us how the attack should go," Batman ordered.

Flash opened his mouth once or twice then shook his head regretfully. "I got nothin'," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Captain Marvel asked. Once they had turned their attention to him he continued. "Why don't Superman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern and I attack him from the front while Batman, Wonder Woman and Flash come from behind as a sneak attack?" he suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Superman said approvingly.

Once they had gotten into their positions and launched the attack it took the Justice League and Captain Marvel less than two minutes to destroy the robot. Green Lantern used his ring to collect the scattered pieces of debris while the others gathered to talk to Captain Marvel.

"So, Cap, what's this 'Wisdom of Solomon'?" Flash asked.

"It's one of my powers," Captain Marvel admitted sheepishly. "I was given the gifts of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury."

Wonder Woman raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I recognize those names," she said.

"So do I," Batman frowned.

"Aren't they Greek gods or something?" Superman asked.

"All except for Solomon," J'onn answered. "I believe he was a Jew and the wisest man that ever lived."

"He sure was," Captain Marvel said cheerfully. "And he doesn't hesitate to remind me that he's Jewish whenever I eat a hotdog."

The pout on Captain Marvel's face made them all laugh. "But how did you get their powers?" Hawkgirl asked curiously.

Captain Marvel looked around nervously, refusing to meet their faces as he said, "A wizard gave them to me." As if sensing that they didn't believe him he grinned and said, "Well if you'll excuse me I need to get going."

"Hey, Captain," Green Lantern called as he flew over to them.

"Yeah?" Captain Marvel turned and looked at the black man curiously.

"Have you ever heard of Cadmus?" the space knight asked.

Captain Marvel blinked in astonishment and said, "You mean that place that does genetic research? Yeah, why?"

"You've heard of it?" Batman's voice was hoarse, indicating just how shocked he was.

"Yeah," Captain Marvel said slowly. "So?"

"But nobody else has ever heard of it!" Flash protested.

"Do you know where they're located or who runs it?" Superman asked, ignoring his babbling teammates. He didn't really care how Captain Marvel knew about Cadmus as long as they got some answers.

Captain Marvel shook his head. "Sorry. I know they're somewhere in Africa but that's about it."

"Maybe the gorillas are running it," Wonder Woman suggested, referring to the tribe of intelligent gorillas they had run into a few years earlier.

"I don't think so," Batman said slowly as he shook his head. "I'll get some satellite photos and see if I can't find them."

"Would you like to join us, captain, when we go find them?" Hawkgirl asked then said, "Where did he go?"

The rest of the Justice League turned to look where Captain Marvel had been but that section of space was now empty.

"Our plan is working brilliantly!" Sivana cheered.

"It's about time," Luthor grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Luthor," Savage sighed heavily.

"But I thought he was supposed to join them, not run away," Luthor growled.

"Yes explain that, Sivana," Savage turned to look at the mad scientist.

Sivana shrugged helplessly. "It's possible that he's trying to fight his programming," he said quickly.

As expected both Luthor and Savage responded loudly. "What?!"

"I thought you said there was and I quote 'No way whatsoever for that idiot to break free of his programming'!" Luthor's glare was becoming more and more intense.

"It's also possible that we might have made him too powerful," Sivana admitted. "But that wasn't my fault!"

"Who cares?" Savage growled. "The Justice League will find their satellite footage and be here eventually. That's all that matters."

"And how do you expect to contain without Captain Marvel's assistance?' Luthor raised an eyebrow as he waited for Savage's response.

"He'll come," Savage smiled grimly. "Trust me; he'll come."


	4. Billy Makes An Appearance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy meets both Bruce and Clark who wonder who the mysterious child they can't stop thinking about is.

Chapter 4: Billy Makes An Appearance  
The New Adventures Of The Justice League

Chapter Four: Billy Makes An Appearance

Once the meeting had been adjourned and all of the members went their separate ways Batman returned to his cave and once again became Bruce Wayne, lord of the manor. As much as he would have liked to begin working on satellite photos immediately he did have certain…responsibilities as the CEO of Wayne Industries to uphold. So, reluctantly, he put on a suit and tie and went to Wayne Industries to attend several boring business meetings.

After climbing out of the limousine (some images he didn't mind enforcing) and straightening his tie he began walking towards the main entrance. But, just as he was about to open the door, something (or rather someone) caught his eye. A boy, no older than eight if he was a day, stood at the side of the building just watching Bruce. In and of itself that wasn't unusual; homeless children often hung around big businesses like Wayne Industries, just waiting for a handout. And yet…there was something about this boy that tugged at Bruce's heartstrings. Maybe it was the too big red sweatshirt and blue jeans that looked like they were about to fall off of him or perhaps it was because he looked skinny enough for Bruce to be able to wrap one arm all the way around him. Or it could be the dirt smudges on his face or the fact that, with his black hair and blue eyes, he looked enough like Bruce or Clark to be their son. Whatever it was it was enough to detour Bruce from entering the building and, instead, to walk over to the boy.

"Hi," he said, bending down so he was eye-to-eye with the kid. "My name's Bruce; what's yours?"

"Billy," the boy said after a momentary hesitation, as if deciding that giving out his first name to Bruce might be okay.

"Where do you live, Billy?" he smiled, hoping to set the boy at ease.

"Wherever I want," Billy replied, his tone implying that it wasn't any of Bruce's business.

Bruce's smile grew even wider. No one could say the kid didn't have spunk. He wanted to offer to take the kid out to lunch but the knowledge that he was already late for a meeting forced him to reconsider. Instead, he pulled out his wallet and watched Billy's eyes grow wide as he pulled out a handful of twenties and handed them to Billy. "Here," he said. "That should be enough to get you back to 'wherever you want to live' and get some food."

"Thanks, mister!" Billy gave Bruce a brilliant smile, one that made his whole face light up before taking the money and running off.

Bruce stood up and chuckled. "Kids," he shook his head fondly then went inside for his meeting. A few minutes later, however, he could have sworn that he heard thunder and lightning off in the distance…

Clark knew he didn't imagine the sound of thunder but trying to convince Jimmy Olsen (the resident photographer) otherwise was proving to be impossible. "But I really did hear it!" he protested.

"Sure, Clark," Jimmy didn't even bother looking up as he put another roll of film in his camera. "On a warm, sunny day in Metropolis, a day with no clouds in the sky, you heard thunder. Look, Clark, we all know you've got great hearing but still. Unless you've got some kind of super hearing that we don't know about (here, Clark winced) there's no way you heard anything!"

Suddenly a voice bellowed, "Jimmy Olsen! Where's that boy?!"

Jimmy blanched. "Coming!" he yelled then raced off.

"But I know I heard something," Clark frowned then decided to go investigate. He was a reporter after all and that was what reporters did.

Even without using his super speed it took him less than half an hour to reach the spot where he had heard the thunder. It was an alleyway, located in one of Metropolis's less than desirable neighborhoods. Trash covered pretty much every available surface as did cockroaches, fleas, ticks and many other insects Clark didn't care to have identified. There were no scorch marks, indicating that lightning had struck but, judging from the way the insects were still avoiding the center of the alleyway, he suspected that something had startled them. He took another step forward, ignoring the squishing sound his shoe made as he stepped in something. He used his x-ray vision to scope the place out and was rewarded when he saw a small body huddled in the corner.

"Hi," he said. "Did you happen to see any lightning or anything earlier?"

The figure shook his head. "No," he said in a whisper. "Besides, mister, it's sunny out. Trust me; if it was going to rain us homeless kids would've already found someplace dry."

Clark sighed. Maybe his hearing really was off today. Everyone had to have an off day eventually. Right? "Well, thanks anyway," he said and turned to go. But before he left he said, "There's a pretty decent shelter on Union Hill Road and from what I hear they serve good food."

"Thanks," the boy said.

Clark was almost back to the Daily Planet when he heard it; the sound of thunder rumbling. He stopped and stood still on the sidewalk. "Nope," he said at last. "I didn't hear anything." Then he continued walking. Five minutes later he regretted that course of action after it started raining.

"If I may ask, what in the world is he doing?" Luthor asked Sivana.

"I honestly have no idea," the short man admitted.

"Really?" Savage said sarcastically. "You, the great Sivana have no idea what our investment is doing?!"

"Why do you guys expect me to know why he's going around and trying to meet the Justice League as civilians?" Sivana snapped.

"Because you claim to know everything," Luthor replied.

"But how does he know their secret identities?" Sivana wondered out loud. After seeing the raised eyebrows he received from Luthor and Savage he laughed uneasily. "Answered my own question," he said.

Savage groaned. "All right; I will admit that I'm getting a little impatient myself and for someone who can live forever to say that then you know it's taking too long!"

"It's not my fault," Sivana protested. "We couldn't have foreseen that he'd try to meet all of the Justice League as civilians!"

"He's ten years old," Luthor said slowly. "The Justice League are his heroes; of course he's going to try and meet them. Even I knew that."

"Can you hurry up the process or not, Sivana?" Savage asked wearily. He wasn't sure how much more of Luthor and Sivana he could take.

"I'll try," Sivana grumbled as he turned to a computer console and began typing in commands.


	5. Further Meetings Of Billy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone but J'onn gwta to meet Billy and only Diana senses that he has a connection with Captain Marvel.

Chapter 5: Further Meetings Of Billy  
The New Adventures Of The Justice League

Chapter Five: Further Meetings Of Billy

Wonder Woman smiled contentedly at the world below her as she flew over New York City. She liked this city a lot. It was just so…big and modern when compared to her island home of Themiscyra. Since she lived at the Watchtower she didn't have a city to call home but if she did it would probably be New York. She laughed out loud in joy as she rode a particularly strong gust of wind and swooped down to land in the middle of Times Square. As usual she attracted a very large crowd that quickly gathered around her. Their words were flying around her so fast that Wonder Woman could barely distinguish what they were saying but she got the general gist of it. Although not everyone in the crowd seemed interested in expressing their admiration of her. One child in the crowd, a boy, caught her eye in particular. There was nothing different about him to set him apart from the other children but still. There was just something about him that called to her motherly instincts.

Ignoring the rest of the crowd she walked over to him and smiled down at him. "Would you like some ice cream?" she asked.

He nodded; his blue eyes wide in amazement as she took his hand and led him over to the ice cream vendor.

"Two double scoops of chocolate please," she ordered and tried to pay the man but her money was waved away.

"No charge," he said.

"Thank you," Wonder Woman smiled at him then handed the boy his cone and made her way to a bench where they sat down and began to eat. "What's your name?" she asked once she had finished her cone.

The boy waited until he had swallowed the last bite of his cone as well and said, "Billy Batson. What's yours?"

Wonder Woman blinked in surprise. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had ever asked her name as it was a matter of public knowledge now. "Diana," she said at last. "But you've probably read that in the newspapers."

"I've haven't exactly been keeping up to date on the latest news."

His smile seemed…odd and reminded her of Captain Marvel somehow. Now that she thought about it their blue eyes looked exactly the same and he even looked like a younger version of the good Captain. Perhaps he was his son? That would make sense.

Diana was about to say more but the sound of her communicator going off distracted her. Regrettably she listened to J'onn giving her the details of an avalanche then turns back to Billy only to raise both eyebrows in shock when she realized that he wasn't there. "He's a fast little kid," she muttered.

Wally West beamed proudly at his latest creation. It was a triple-decker bacon, Swiss, avocado, pickle, ham, cheese, lettuce, sardine, tomato, scrambled egg and pepperoni sandwich. "Doesn't this look delicious?" he declared, pulling three napkins out of his lunch bag.

"No it looks disgusting," one of his co-workers groaned.

"Seriously, Wally, do you have to eat that in front of everyone?" another one complained.

Passerby's in the park gave them strange looks as they hurried on, pulling their dogs faster in an effort to get away from the sickening smell of Wally's sandwich.

"It's not that bad," Wally retorted as he turned back to the picnic table only to let out a cry of grief and anguish. "Where's my sandwich?!"

His green eyes narrowed as he saw a little kid disappear around the corner, Wally's beloved sandwich clutched in both hands.

"That little twerp stole my sandwich! After him!" Wally let out a battle cry then ran after the kid.

"Shouldn't we go after him?" one of his co-workers asked hesitantly.

"No," the other four said in unison.

Wally ran, albeit not as fast as he could have, but still fast enough to catch up with a child sized thief. "Gotcha," he said in triumph as his fingers closed around the thin arm and forced the child to turn around. As soon as he did, however, Wally's face fell. He had been hoping that his thief was simply a child following through with a dare, not one that looked like he hadn't had a good meal in days.

"I just wanted something to eat," the boy sniffled, tears welling up in his blue eyes.

Instantly Wally panicked. If there was one thing he couldn't stand it was to see a child cry. Fortunately, though Wally was an expert at cheering kids up as his local visits to the women's shelter and orphanage proved. "It's okay," he soothed, squatting down to be on more of an eye level with the boy. "I don't care if you eat my sandwich."

"You don't?" the boy brightened, his tears vanishing in an instant.

Wally shook his head. "Not at all, just ask first the next time, okay?"

"Okay," the boy nodded eagerly. "By the way it tastes great!" he took a gigantic bite to prove his statement and, interestingly enough, didn't spit it back out like many of Wally's co-workers and Diana had. Instead he smiled and took another bite.

"A kid after my own heart," Wally sighed wistfully then took one look at his watch and freaked. "I'm going to be late for work!"

John Stewart was the next person to encounter the little boy. Actually, since she happened to be in Detroit at the time, Shayera Hol also encountered him. It was actually a funny incident. Shayera and John had been discussing Captain Marvel and whether or not he would pop again soon when a little kid bumped into John.

"Oops, sorry mister," the boy grinned widely then went the opposite direction.

"Kids," John chuckled fondly and was about to suggest that they get a bite to eat when he realized something. "My wallet's gone!" he cried. "That kid stole my wallet!"

"Can I use my mace?" Shayera asked eagerly.

"No," John said firmly. They really needed to work on her bloodthirstiness some more.

Shayera pouted but dutifully followed him as they chased after the kid. Unfortunately they lost him along one of Detroit's many side streets. "Where did he go?" she asked.

"I don't know," John frowned.

"You could use the ring," she suggested.

John gave her a look. "You want me to use my Green Lantern ring to find a pickpocket? I had less than fifteen dollars in cash, my credit card doesn't have any money on it and I needed to renew my driver's license anyway."

"But suppose Wally found out?" Shayera raised an eyebrow.

"He'll never let me live it down," John sighed heavily.

He was about to slip on his ring when they both heard the sound of thunder and, seconds later, Captain Marvel landed in front of them. "Is this your wallet?" he asked, holding out the brown leather square.

"Uh yeah. Thanks," John took it, eyeing the Captain strangely. "What are you doing in Detroit? I thought you lived in Fawcett City."

"How did you hear that?" Captain Marvel wanted to know.

"Uh," John quickly searched for an excuse that he could use since, the only people who knew about Captain Marvel so far, was the Justice League.

"Never mind," Captain Marvel said quickly, massaging his forehead with one hand. "Gotta fly." And with that he took off in the air.

"That was…strange," John commented, looking at his wallet.

"Maybe but he's cute," Shayera murmured, her green eyes following the man.

"Why hasn't he done anything yet except for talk to them?" Savage roared. Normally he was a patient man but right about now he was feeling anything but patient.

"I don't know," Sivana snapped. "He's still trying to fight his programming but I don't understand it. Fighting my control should have knocked him off his feet, not given him a simple headache!"

"I told you we made him too powerful," Luthor commented. "I told you that he would fight our programming."

"Well then, Luthor," Savage growled. "Do you have any ideas about how to lure in the Justice League? And on how to contain them?"

"Simple," Luthor said. "No doubt they'll be using satellite photos to track us down."

"Even though they think we're in Africa?" Sivana groaned.

"We are in Africa you idiot," Savage snapped.

"Anyways what I was trying to say was that perhaps we should arrange for some more bodies to show up in the river," Luthor suggested. "Preferably American bodies, especially scientists. That should definitely get their attention."

"Not bad," Savage agreed after thinking it over for a few minutes. "Sivana, find a scientist to kill."

The mad scientist eyed him uneasily then nodded and left the room.

"You do know he's planning to betray us, right?" Luthor said.

"Just like you are," Savage countered.

"Touché," Luthor smiled.


	6. Captain Marvel vs. the Scarecrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Marvel loans his aid to Batman who learns one of the many connections the man has to Cadmus.

Chapter 6: Captain Marvel vs the Scarecrow  
The New Adventures Of The Justice League

Chapter 6: Captain Marvel vs. the Scarecrow

While Batman's computer (with Alfred at the helm) searched for any evidence of Cadmus or anything suspicious at all in Africa Batman found himself battling the Scarecrow.

"Give it up, Crane!" Batman ordered, throwing a roundhouse kick at the deranged psychologist. "The place is surrounded; there's no way out of the bank."

"Never!" the Scarecrow, a.k.a. Jonathan Crane shouted as he began waving his scythe even more wildly, ignoring the frightened hostages who began whimpering even louder. "The Scarecrow fears no man! But even the Batman must fear something!" and with that he yanked a canister out of his belt and began spraying it in the air.

Hastily, Batman covered his face with his black cape but by then it was too late. The fear gas seeped into his nervous system, stimulating nerves and senses that were normally left alone. Images began to fly through his mind even as he stumbled backwards several steps before collapsing to the ground in a fetal position.

"Farewell, Batman," the Scarecrow taunted, his masked face looking even more menacing than normal. "Without you to stand in my way, I can make my escape now!"

No, Batman thought weakly. I mustn't let him…escape. He began crawling towards the Scarecrow whose laughs were getting louder. But Batman's journey was halted by the appearance of a man garbed in red, white, and gold.

"Don't worry, Batman," Captain Marvel said as he flew in front of the Dark Knight. "I've got this one taken care of."

Batman wanted to protest. He wanted to argue that the Scarecrow was his villain, that Gotham was his city, that this was his problem but…he couldn't. He was in no shape to fight and not only did he and Captain Marvel know it but so did the Scarecrow. Reluctantly he nodded and took the time to try and fight the fear toxins in his system while watching the other two men (could he really call the Scarecrow a man?) do battle.

Captain Marvel started the fight by thrusting out his left fist, electricity crackling over the curled appendages. The Scarecrow, however, merely ducked before retaliating with several punches and kicks of his own with no apparent pattern. While he did land several hits, Captain Marvel just stared at him all the while, looking increasingly bored, even going so far as to yawn when the Scarecrow landed one particularly vicious hit with his scythe that caused Batman to wince.

"You're not normal are you?" the Scarecrow finally asked. "Oh well. Even Superman himself would fall to his knees because of this!" he whipped out the canister of fear gas once more.

"Captain, look out!" Batman cried in alarm, his voice sounding very far away.

Captain Marvel took a deep breath, inhaling all of the fear gas then looked at the Scarecrow in curiosity. "Just what exactly was that supposed to do anyways?" he asked.

The Scarecrow's mouth dropped open and he stared at the hero in shock even as Captain Marvel's fist connected with his face, knocking the villain unconscious. Once the cops had begun to claim the scene Captain Marvel went straight to Batman. Ignoring the Dark Knight's weak protests Captain Marvel scooped him up in his strong arms and flew out of the bank, finally coming to a stop in one of Gotham's more secluded areas of town. After gently placing Batman on the rooftop of a building Captain Marvel asked, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Batman said hoarsely. "Just give me a minute." Captain Marvel nodded as Batman took in several calming breaths before asking, "How did you withstand the Scarecrow's fear gas?"

Captain Marvel's boyish grin spread across his face as he said, "The courage of Achilles. It allows me to face my fears and not give into them. It's a very rare gift," he added hastily after seeing Batman's scowl of embarrassment.

"It must be," Batman said sarcastically. "If you don't mind my asking, Captain, just what were you doing in Gotham tonight?"

Captain Marvel shrugged. "Sight-seeing," he said cheerfully.

"At night?" Batman raised an eyebrow.

"Yep," Captain Marvel nodded. "Best time to avoid the tourists."

Batman was forced to agree with him on that point and the two men fell in a companionable silence. Batman hated to break it by asking questions that might sound like accusations but he was curious about a lot of things and curiosity killed the bat as they said. "Captain Marvel," he said at last. "How did you know about Cadmus when I couldn't find out anything about them?"

The physically bigger hero looked at him for a moment then turned his gaze back to the empty street below. "A…friend of mine worked there for a while as a janitor but he was murdered after they caught him trying to help one of their genetic experiments escape. He told me a little bit about Cadmus, mostly the fact that it was in Africa but other than that I don't know very much."

Batman listened to his statement carefully. He could deduce no signs of falsehood in the hero's tale, only sadness and a hint of anger. "I'm sorry about your friend, Captain," he said sincerely. "I promise you that the Justice League will do everything in our power to bring them down."

"Thanks," Captain Marvel said quietly. "I really appreciate that." After a few more minutes of just sitting there he rose to his feet and said, "Well, I gotta fly."

"How will we get in touch with you if we need you?" Batman asked, also standing up.

Captain Marvel blinked then grinned mysteriously. "I'll find you," he said then took off into the sky, leaving a smiling Batman behind him.

"I like him," Batman announced then decided that it was time to head for home and see what results Alfred and the computer had managed to come up with.


	7. Lexcorp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Batman calls a meeting and reveals what they've learned so far about Cadmus. They also decide to storm the place.

Chapter 7: LexCorp  
The New Adventures Of The Justice League

Chapter 7: LexCorp

Using the information Captain Marvel had given him it didn't take Batman long to not only retrieve the information that he needed but to also call an emergency meeting.

"This better be good," Hawkgirl grunted as she entered the meeting room and sat down.

"Why?" Flash asked as he zoomed in and took a seat next to the Martian Manhunter. "I mean, it's not like you actually have anything that you have to do. You live at the Watchtower for crying out loud."

Hawkgirl raised her mace threateningly. "Wallace West," she growled through gritted teeth.

"Calm down, Shayera," Green Lantern chided as he walked in, followed by Superman and Wonder Woman. "Killing Flash isn't going to accomplish anything."

"It'll make my life easier," Shayera countered.

"She does have a good point," Superman admitted much to Flash's dismay.

Batman cleared his throat and waited for everyone to turn their attention to him before continuing. "I believe I have located the general area of Cadmus. Using some information that Captain Marvel gave me I began looking into the deaths of several Americans in that area and I began to notice a pattern. Three scientists, all of whom were in the top of their field, were recently found dead."

"Then who is the fourth man?" Wonder Woman asked, inclining her head towards the screen where the pictures of four men were.

Batman scowled then said, "His name is Dudley H. Dudley. He's a former con artist who recently took a job as a janitor for the African branch of LexCorp. According to Captain Marvel he was the janitor for Cadmus and a friend of the good captain's."

"Well at least that explains how he knew about Cadmus," J'onn commented.

"But why didn't he just come out and say that?" John Stewart was puzzled.

Batman shrugged. "I honestly don't know," he admitted. "He might have thought that we would suspect him of working for Cadmus and setting a trap for us."

"Yeah, right," Flash snorted. "Like that would ever work."

"It might," Superman replied evenly. "It just depends on who they were trying to trick."

"Hey," Flash began.

"Getting back to topic," Batman interrupted. "I did some more investigating and LexCorp owns a warehouse in the same area as where the bodies were found. Granted it's owned through several shell corporations but you get the picture."

"LexCorp?" Superman straightened.

"Weren't you paying attention?" Hawkgirl demanded.

Superman just ignored her. "Lex Luthor is behind this," he muttered. "I should have known that it would be him."

Flash groaned and leaned back in his chair. "This is going to take a while isn't it?"

"You just had to bring up LexCorp didn't you?" John sighed heavily, glaring at Batman.

"Why is bringing up Lex Luthor bad?" Wonder Woman asked in a whisper.

"Because Lex Luthor and Superman are mortal enemies," Hawkgirl explained. "They hate each other."

"Oh," Wonder Woman nodded in understanding.

Superman was now pacing back and forth, muttering under his breath about how he was going to destroy Lex Luthor.

"Whenever he stops then we can head to Africa and start a real investigation into Cadmus," Batman said.

"Why don't we just load him into the plane and let him complain on the way there?" Flash suggested.

"Great idea," Hawkgirl leapt to her feet. "Dibs on piloting!" she flew out of the room at top speed.

"No fair," John stated as he followed her out of the room.

"How do we ever get anything done?" Batman sighed as he shook his head in dismay.

"Isn't Captain Marvel going to come with us?" Wonder Woman asked in confusion as she stood up.

Batman shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "He said he would show up if we needed him. So let's go and see if he shows up."

It didn't take long to convince Superman to get on the plane and it took even less time for them to arrive in Africa. Two hours later they landed in one of Africa's many desert areas, Superman leading them down the ramp and off the plane.

"Well we're here, Batman," Wonder Woman sighed. "What now?"

"According to my GPS the warehouse owned by LexCorp is less than four miles from here in that direction," Batman pointed straight ahead.

Superman frowned and used his super vision to scope out the surrounding land while Green Lantern created binoculars to do the same. "I can't see anything," Superman confessed. "If Lex Luthor is behind this then no doubt he used lead to camouflage the place."

"I could make out a wall," Green Lantern said. "And I thought I could see a building just beyond it but that was about it."

"Want me to do some recon?" Flash asked eagerly.

"No," Batman said. "I think we should stick together. Something tells me that we need to hurry so I'll need one of you to carry me."

They all stared at Batman in shock.

"What?" he said defensively. "It's the most logical way to get there faster."

"Okay," Wonder Woman said slowly as she picked up Batman and they took off.

The seven members of the Justice League were quiet as they flew/raced across the desert. Somehow, each of them knew that what they would find at their destination would change not only their lives but the world as they knew it, forever.


	8. The Plan Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Justice League breaches Cadmus where they find not only Captain Marvel but the awful truth behind his origins.

Chapter 8: The Plan Revealed  
The New Adventures Of The Justice League

Chapter 8: The Plan Revealed

Once the Justice League had reached the wall which had been obstructing Superman's vision it didn't take long for them to discern that there was indeed a building behind it.

"So, uh, how do we do this?" Flash asked, looking up at the twenty foot wall. "Do we try to sneak in or…"

"No doubt they've already observed us on the security cameras," Batman interrupted as he pointed to the cameras which were all facing them. "So there's no need for stealth."

"Glad to hear you say that," Superman smiled and hit the wall, causing it to begin shaking and bricks to fall.

Wonder Woman quickly caught on and began ramming into it with her powerful body. Green Lantern formed a giant battering ram and used that while Hawkgirl used her mace. J'onn and Batman simply stood back while Flash ran around the wall, trying to find a different way in. Fortunately, with all of the Justice League's powerhouses attacking at once the wall quickly gave way and soon crumbled to dust, leaving them with a clear entry.

They crossed the dusty yard and entered the warehouse. "Shouldn't there be guards or something?" Wonder Woman questioned as they turned down deserted hallways.

"Yeah," Hawkgirl chimed in. "I thought a place like this would have lots of security."

"Something's fishy," Batman frowned.

"I don't smell anything," Flash said then began laughing. "Get it? He said fishy and I said…" his voice trailed off. "You guys need to get a sense of humor," he grumbled.

"I don't get it," J'onn said simply.

"Neither do the rest of us," Green Lantern sighed.

"I think what Batman's trying to say is that he thinks it's a trap," Superman interjected as they pushed open a heavy steel door and entered a dark room.

"He's right," a familiar voice said from behind them even as the door banged shut.

"Captain Marvel?" Green Lantern frowned as he quickly created a lantern and held it up, green shadows flickering across the heroes' faces.

"How do you know it's a trap?" J'onn asked.

Captain Marvel let out a heavy sigh as he said in a low, unhappy voice, "Because I'm the bait."

Laughter rang out, grabbing the Justice League's attention. Even as they turned around the lights suddenly came on, forcing them to blink in an effort to orient themselves. Once their eyes had become accustomed to the brightness they could see three men standing on the other side of the room; Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage and Dr. Thaddeus Sivana.

"Bravo, Justice League," Luthor said, clapping his hands together. "I must admit, I didn't think you'd fall for our little trap but you did."

"Well done, Captain Marvel," Savage grinned. "You actually did what you were supposed to do, even in spite of Sivana's ineptitude," he glowered.

"It wasn't my fault!" Sivana protested.

"Yes we've been over that before," Luthor sighed. "The point is, we finally have the Justice League in our grasp, just as we've been planning for the last four years."

"That was a wasted four years, Luthor," Superman spoke up. "The only thing you're going to do now is go to prison."

"Oh I don't think so," Savage said. "In case you've forgotten we have Captain Marvel on our side and he'll do whatever we order him to do, isn't that right, Captain?"

"Yes, sir," Captain Marvel said, refusing to look up from the floor.

"But why go to all this trouble simply to get us here?" Batman frowned. "If you wanted us dead wouldn't it simply have been easier to have Captain Marvel kill us when we first met instead of luring us here?"

"We don't want to kill you," Sivana spoke up. "We want to control you with the use of these worms," he gestured towards a glass case filled with worms that were wriggling across the bottom.

"Eww," Flash made a face. "That's gross."

"And just how are worms supposed to control us?" Hawkgirl demanded.

"These aren't just any worms," Sivana said defensively. "They are the descendants, or rather clones, of a particularly intellectual and telepathic worm from another dimension named Mr. Mind. He contacted me telepathically one day in a desperate attempt to take over my mind but I beat him at his own game," Sivana chuckled. "When he came to Earth I trapped him and by dissecting him I was able to successfully recreate his telepathic abilities so that whenever I place one of these worms in the brain of someone we can control them. That's the real reason why we wanted you do-gooders alive; so we could take over your minds and make you do whatever we want you to do."

"Is that how you're able to control Captain Marvel?" Wonder Woman asked, having already decided for herself that there was no way the strong hero would be working for these villains willingly.

"Actually we control him through his programming," Savage explained.

"Programming?" now Superman looked confused. Using the worms to control Captain Marvel that much he could understand but programming? What in the world did they mean by that?

"Seriously," Lex Luthor groaned. "You mean to tell me that none of you wondered why he had the majority of your abilities and even looked like Superman?"

"Nope," Flash shook his head after a moment of consideration, noticing all the while that Captain Marvel's shoulders were slumping even more.

Luthor sighed heavily and said, "Captain Marvel is your clone."


	9. The Creation Of Captain Marvel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They learn the truth about how Captain Marvel was created and find themselves facing him in battle as Luthor makes his escape.

Chapter 9: The Creation Of Captain Marvel  
The New Adventures Of The Justice League

Chapter 9: The Creation Of Captain Marvel

For a moment silence reigned in the warehouse as the members of the Justice League stared at Lex Luthor in shock. Finally it was Flash who broke the silence, his eyes wide behind the white lenses of his mask as he swung his gaze between Captain Marvel and Luthor before saying, "Are you seriously telling me that he is a clone of us?!" he jabbed a finger accusingly at Captain Marvel who flinched but didn't say a word.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you," Luthor sighed heavily.

"But he doesn't even have all of our powers," Superman protested weakly.

Luthor raised an eyebrow. "And neither did Superboy," he countered.

"Who?" Hawkgirl raised an eyebrow as she turned to Batman.

"Superboy was a clone of Superman's," Batman clarified. "He was half-human and half-Kryptonian so he didn't exhibit all of Superman's powers. Clark adopted him but Superboy's programming led him to try and eliminate him so Clark was forced to kill him. Not long after that Supergirl came along but since she was a full blooded Kryptonian she was more than a little unstable. One day she went crazy and committed suicide after realizing that she had almost killed Superman."

"Oh," Hawkgirl's eyes went wide.

"So is Captain Marvel half-human?" Wonder Woman asked, having overheard Batman and Hawkgirl's conversation.

"He's part human, part Martian Manhunter, part Kryptonian, part Thanagarian and part Amazon," Vandal Savage replied.

"How in the world did you manage to combine all of those DNAs into one body?" Green Lantern asked in amazement.

"Through no small amount of effort thanks to my genius," Dr. Sivana said proudly.

"It took us about two years to figure out how to safely combine them without their being any…side effects," Luthor said.

"Except for some slight mental instability," Savage sighed.

"Of course there's some instability!" Luthor snapped. "He's only ten years old for crying out loud!"

"He's ten?!" J'onn was furious. He tried not to let his emotions control him very often if he could help it but at the moment he was simply too furious for words. How dare these…villains force a child to go through an ordeal like that?! He could remember all too clearly those two years he had spent in captivity, sometimes he still had nightmares about that place. And they had put a child through that ordeal?! He levitated himself into the air, his focus only on Luthor.

"Captain Marvel, take him down," Luthor ordered.

Captain Marvel nodded and, placing two fingers on either side of his head, began frowning. Suddenly J'onn felt waves of agony rolling through his head. He began screaming as he fell to his knees, forced to watch his family die over and over again.

"What did you do to him?!" Hawkgirl yelled, her mace already crackling.

"I believe Captain Marvel merely used his telepathy to stop the Martian Manhunter from annihilating me," Luthor replied calmly.

"Telepathy?" Green Lantern could already feel a headache coming on.

"Yes and unless you would like the same thing to happen to you, you will let us continue explaining how we created him," Sivana's voice sounded oddly gleeful, as though he hoped that Captain Marvel would be forced to take them down as well.

"Where did you find a test subject?" Batman asked.

"On the streets of Fawcett City," Luthor said promptly. "I had been watching the area for days, trying to find a suitable subject when I happened to find a young boy sound asleep behind a garbage can. I used chloroform on him to insure that he stayed asleep then brought him here via my private jet. It didn't take us long after that to collect DNA samples from him and run tests."

"And after that it was only a matter of fusing your DNA to his, modifying certain strands of it of course to ensure that he would obey our every command," Savage explained.

"So what exactly did he get from me?" Hawkgirl asked eagerly.

"Your fighting technique and battle skills," Luthor told her. "And he has Batman's tactical and logical mind as well as the willpower of the Green Lantern."

"Do what?" Green Lantern looked confused.

"Basically he's a living ring," Savage said shortly. "Whatever you can do with your ring he can do a thousand times better just by thinking about it."

"Oh joy," Flash muttered sarcastically.

"What about his programming?" Superman asked.

"He shouldn't turn out like Superboy and Supergirl," Luthor assured him.

"And why are you telling them all of this?" Savage whirled on Luthor. "I thought we were supposed to be brainwashing them, not telling them how to raise him!"

"That's Sivana's department, not mine," Luthor said then smiled. "Besides, who ever said I wanted to brainwash them?"

"Can we kill him now?" Sivana asked.

"Be my guest," Savage grumbled. "Captain Marvel, attack Luthor!" Captain Marvel didn't move. "Attack! Why isn't he moving?"

"While you and Sivana were so busy worrying about me betraying you, the two of you neglected to pay any attention to me during the phase where we were writing his programming. I had it altered so that he only obeys my commands," Luthor said proudly. "Captain Marvel, kill Savage and Sivana." As Captain Marvel started forward, Luthor smiled and said, "That's my cue." He pressed a button and a hidden door opened. He stepped through and waved at his fellow villains before the door shut behind him.


	10. The Final Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the Justice League battles their clone with very little success. Can they win and save Captain Marvel or will they and everyone else perish at his hands?

Chapter 10: The Final Battle  
The New Adventures Of The Justice League

Chapter 10: The Final Battle

As Captain Marvel neared Savage and Sivana the two villains backed up nervously. "Now, now, Captain Marvel," Sivana said. "Just because we subjected you to three years of being experimented on and killed that old man that followed you here from Fawcett City doesn't mean that you have to kill us."

"Shut up," Savage growled. "You're just making him angrier."

"We have to stop Captain Marvel from reaching Savage and Sivana," Batman said quickly.

Superman nodded. "I'm on it," he said and launched himself into the air, intent on stopping the raging clone.

Although he no doubt saw Superman hovering in front of him Captain Marvel showed no intention of stopping but rather speeded up. Superman braced himself for an impact but, to his eternal surprise, found himself thrown back into the wall before Captain Marvel had even reached him. Superman shook himself out of his stupor and raced back to the center of the room, almost tripping over Hawkgirl who had accidentally been hit by a flying piece of debris, knocking her unconscious. He knew Sivana and Savage were criminal scum who didn't deserve to live but that wasn't Superman's job to decide; that job belonged to a judge and jury, it was just up to him to see that they lived long enough to reach that point in time. And in order to do that he would have to take down another clone. Again. He forced himself to put away the memories of Superboy and Supergirl and to focus entirely on the red-suited man flying towards him. He focused all of his strength into his fist and hit Captain Marvel square in the face. The other man flew backwards an inch then recovered and came charging once more, this time leading with a fist of his own that was crackling with electricity. The fist hit Superman in the mouth, knocking the man of steel across the room and into Wonder Woman, throwing both of them into the wall, Superman dazed as blood trickled down the corners of his mouth and his vision was strangely clouded as were his thoughts.

Green Lantern gulped nervously as he watched Captain Marvel take out both Superman and Wonder Woman with one punch. J'onn was still down for the count, clutching his head as he kneeled in the floor sobbing and crying out his wife and child's names and Hawkgirl was now unconscious. "It's up to you, John," he whispered to himself. "Go take out your clone and save the bad guys." He quickly threw up a green box around Captain Marvel, a box that would have taken Superman hours to get out of. A box that Captain Marvel merely phased through before turning to John, his eyes glowing white as John found himself placed in a similar box, his ring gone from his finger and encased in a much smaller box that was floating near the ceiling. "You have got to be kidding me," he groaned even as his Green Lantern uniform disappeared, only to be replaced by his khaki pants and blue polo shirt.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Bats," Flash said cheerfully. "So, uh, you want to go first?"

Batman just looked at him, raising an eyebrow in response.

"Thought not," Flash sighed heavily before running at top speed towards Savage and Sivana who were now randomly pushing buttons in an attempt to find something to stop their creation with. "Hey, Cap, over here!" he yelled, going to the other side of the room.

Captain Marvel didn't answer him but kept flying.

"Hey if you're our clone then doesn't that mean you should be just as fast as me? By my account you're a whole lot slower!"

Captain Marvel turned to face him, his eyes glowing white once again before Flash suddenly found himself running at normal speed.

"Are you kidding me?" he yelled angrily, coming to a complete stop as he desperately tried to catch his breath. "Did he really just take away my powers?"

Batman just shook his head ruefully. "Never send a meta to do a human's job," he sighed, pulling out two batarangs and throwing them. They exploded upon impact after hitting the ceiling. Rubble fell down, the dust obscuring everyone's vision. Once the smoke had cleared it was to observe a very annoyed looking Captain Marvel surrounded by a white shield. He shook his head disapprovingly and Batman suddenly found himself floating in the air, the collar on his uniform tightening, cutting off his air supply. His vision was growing blurry and he knew that he was about to black out when a voice ran throughout the building.

Stop!

J'onn's voice was loud and clear as he stood up. He walked over to Captain Marvel and looked him straight in the face. "You are our clone," he said loudly. "You have our DNA and our powers. But most of all you have our potential for becoming a hero. I might not be able to read your mind but I can tell that you don't like what you're doing right now. At this moment in time you are acting more like Savage and Sivana than us. So if there is any trace amount of us within you then fight it. Fight your programming, Captain Marvel. Become a hero, become…us." His voice sank to a whisper as he finished talking and faced his clone unflinchingly.

Captain Marvel blinked at him in stupefaction then slowly nodded. "You're right," he said at last. "I am your clone and I do have the genetic potential to become a hero." Even as he spoke handcuffs appeared out of nowhere, effectively trapping the two villains to some support beams. The Green Lantern and his ring were both set free, while Flash discovered that he could suddenly run again while Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and Batman all attempted to regain their breaths' after almost being killed.

Captain Marvel stood in the middle of the room, looking strangely saddened. "I'm sorry about everything," he said at last. "I never meant to deceive you guys, honest. But Mr. Luthor said I couldn't tell you guys the truth but I did try to delay telling you as long as possible."

Wonder Woman stepped forward, her blue eyes shining brightly as she walked over to Captain Marvel and placed a hand on his arm. "It's not your fault, Captain Marvel," she said gently. "You were just following your programming."

"Thank you," he smiled at her then said, "and my real name is Billy by the way. Billy Batson."

Suddenly each member of the Justice League (except for J'onn of course) remembered meeting a black-haired, blue-eyed little boy; a boy that had tugged at all of their heartstrings.

"You were the kid that stole my wallet? But how did you change your size?" Green Lantern asked in confusion.

"Like this," Captain Marvel smiled then stepped back. "Shazam!" he cried loudly. Lightning cracked even as it struck him then vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving behind the little boy that they all remembered.

"Oh my," J'onn raised an eyebrow. "This does present quite a few wrinkles."

"How did you know our secret identities?" Hawkgirl asked curiously.

Billy gave her a look and said, "I used my telepathy to read your minds."

"Oh," she nodded in understanding and smiled warmly at him.

"So," Flash said at last after a few minutes of awkward silence. "What are we going to do with him?"

"Where do you live?" Batman asked.

"Nowhere," Billy replied with a shrug.

"Maybe we should take him back to the Watchtower with us," Wonder Woman suggested. "I mean, he already knows where it is."

"Only if we can figure out a way to combat his programming," Superman said firmly.

"All in favor of bringing Billy back to the Watchtower with us raise your right hand," Flash cried, raising his hand.

Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and J'onn all raised their right hands immediately. After a few seconds Batman reluctantly raised his as did Green Lantern and Superman.

"It's official," J'onn said. "Billy will be coming to live with us. I hope you will enjoy your new home," he directed the last statement towards Billy who was grinning and nodding eagerly.

"I hope so to," he said even as Hawkgirl held his right hand and led him back towards the others so J'onn could beam them to the watchtower. "I really, really hope so."

"What about them?" Superman inclined his head towards Savage and Sivana who were still handcuffed.

Billy turned to face the two villains, his eyes glowing white before they disappeared in a flash of light. "They're at Belle Reve Penitentiary right now," he said calmly.

"And on that note let's go home," Green Lantern said with a heavy sigh.

Batmen nodded but as the eight of them were beamed back to the Watchtower, a small frown appeared on his face, one that did not disappear…


End file.
